Health Influencers on Social Media: Shaping Followers’ Beliefs and Behaviours

In the digital age, social media (SM) has become an influential platform for healthcare practitioners (HPs), also known as “health influencers,†to disseminate health information and shape public health behaviors. This study explores the impact of social media promotion by healthcare practitioners on followers’ health beliefs and behaviors, specifically regarding nutritional medicine. Nutritional medicine, focusing on diet and nutrition’s role in health promotion and disease prevention, is increasingly significant in public health initiatives. Using the Source Credibility Model (SCM) and the Health Belief Model (HBM), this study investigates how source credibility and health beliefs shape individual health behaviors. Semi-structured interviews with followers of healthcare practitioners promoting nutritional medicine on social media will be analyzed through thematic analysis to uncover insights into messaging strategies, credibility perceptions, and health beliefs influencing dietary decisions. This study contributes to existing literature by addressing the research gap regarding social media promotion of nutritional medicine by healthcare practitioners in Malaysia. It proposes a framework for understanding the interplay between source credibility and health beliefs in influencing health behaviors, offering practical recommendations to optimize social media strategies for healthcare communication.